Engagement prep: The ring

Now comes the most symbolic part of the engagement ceremony – the ring. As proof to its importance, it is the first thing that we’d gotten! Since Reza was away, he left it up to me, to pick the ring that suited me best.

My mom gets invites to international jewelry fairs that are held annually. During the fair, jewelers from different countries get the chance to exhibit and sell their jewelries at discounted prices. Customers would get the chance to bargain, too! My mom had gotten the best deals there, so when I mentioned rings, she suggested that I visit the fair when it’s time.

I was dragged to the fair, held at the KLCC Convention Center, just days after spending new year’s in Japan. While my mum was chilling at her friend’s booth, I was free to roam the hall. The variety was crazy, considering the presence of so many jewelers.

I’d read about the 4Cs, but couldn’t be bothered about the color, cut, clarity and carat. Before I got engaged, I had no interest in diamond rings. You can say that I was not very imaginative in this department. Hence, if anything looked decent enough, would fit my skinny finger and within Reza’s budget, I would’ve considered and tried.

When I found something that I liked, I’d bring my mum to the booth for a second opinion. The advantage of having my mum around, was having someone who could bargain on my behalf. However, the disadvantage of having my mum around, was that these jewelers would assume that she would pay for me if the price of the ring busted the budget.

“Mummy can pay, right?” a dude would say.

So the strategy was:

To state our budget from the very start (of course we mentioned an amount lower than our actual budget!);

To mention that Reza was studying overseas, unreachable at that moment and that I would need to stick to the budget he’s provided me with — the ring is something that’s borne by him (even when he was willing to increase it a little); and

To emphasize that my mum wasn’t going to finance the ring in any way

After going to several booths, we were running out of time (because we were supposed to pick Asna up from her class). Fortunately, just before we went home, we stopped by the first booth we visited, a jeweler from Singapore. We asked them to show us the smaller sized rings that they had there. Among the rings that they’d presented to me, I found the ring.

It’s a ring with a princess cut diamond and a pave setting on the sides. The pave’s got tiny round and rectangle diamonds, elements found on my mum’s ring, that I admire. It was slightly bigger than my size, but I was told that it can be resized later. The diamond had no certificate but I didn’t mind. It was love at first sight… at a great price that’s within the budget — about one third of the retail price. Reza texted, giving his blessing and history was made.

I was looking forward to the day that I could officially wear it. Even before the engagement ceremony, I’d thank him and tell him often, how much I love staring at it everyday. Today, I think I’ve grown highly attached to it. In fact, I feel like staring at it right now.

The Malaysia International Jewelry Fair will be held once more, from the 14th to 17th January 2014. Still a long way to go, but future brides and grooms, you might want to register and block your calendars now. More details here.